# Which is the most accurate western TV/movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867 "2022-02-03T19:41:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/102 "2022-02-10T05:17:38Z")
I wonder if anybody at all had one of those tv western holsters where the belt hung at an angle such that the pistol was mid-thigh. And with a strap so it could be secured against the leg. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/103 "2022-02-10T09:39:00Z")
Generally when you see holstered guns in Western pics, they’re on the hip or thereabouts. You do occasionally see lower-slung pistols, like in this pic of Charley Nebo, but _sans_ strap in the ones I’ve seen. And even in that pic, the other guy has his pistol higher, and cross-drawn. AFAICT, the “Buscadero”-style we associate with gunfighters is a 20th C. invention. [https://www.lofty.com/products/cabinet-card-of-charley-nebo-1-1jfm0i](https://www.lofty.com/products/cabinet-card-of-charley-nebo-1-1jfm0i) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/104 "2022-02-10T13:18:29Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > AFAICT, the “Buscadero”-style we associate with gunfighters is a 20th C. invention. The mythologization of the Old West really got set in stone by the 20th century, but it actually started in real time. Dime store Western novels beginning as early as the 1860s sensationalized events in the west, and were very popular out east. > **[Dime Western](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dime_Western)** > > A Dime Western is a modern term for Western-themed dime novels, which spanned the era of the 1860s–1900s. Most would hardly be recognizable as a modern western, having more in common with James Fennimore Cooper's Leatherstocking saga, but many of the standard elements originated here: a cool detached hero, a frontiersman (later a cowboy), a fragile heroine in danger of the despicable outlaw, savage Indians, violence and gunplay, and the final outcome where Truth and Light wins over all. Often rea... ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/105 "2022-02-10T15:57:45Z")
Sure, yes, and there’s some indication that the Buscadero-style holster partly came out of the needs of the trick shooters in Wild West shows, as well as competition shooters. But if you look at the artwork for eg [Buffalo Bill’s show posters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West_shows#/media/File:Buffalo_bill_wild_west_show_c1899.jpg), they show hip-worn pistols, not low-slung ones [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West_shows#/media/File:Buffalo_bill_wild_west_show_c1899.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West_shows#/media/File:Buffalo_bill_wild_west_show_c1899.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/106 "2022-02-10T16:19:51Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Sure, yes, and there’s some indication that the Buscadero-style holster partly came out of the needs of the trick shooters in Wild West shows, as well as competition shooters. Sorry if I came off disputing or correcting you, which I did not mean to do, I was more using your ‘20th C. invention’ mention as a hook just to make a broader point that, a lot of posters in this thread have pointed out how the mythology of the Old West got going with silent Westerns in the 20s, which is also very true, but it started even earlier than that. Nice Buffalo Bill poster link, BTW! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/107 "2022-02-10T16:47:50Z")
No need to apologize, you were making a valid point. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/108 "2022-02-10T19:51:36Z")
The first 15 minutes of Dances With Wolves is the most enthralling Civil War film I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/109 "2022-02-11T15:19:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > But if you look at the artwork for eg [Buffalo Bill’s show posters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West_shows#/media/File:Buffalo_bill_wild_west_show_c1899.jpg), they show hip-worn pistols, not low-slung ones In the 3d image, is the guy on the white horse missing his leg below the knee? If so, any context, or just artistic choice? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/110 "2022-02-11T15:24:12Z")
No stirrup on that side of the horse, so 1 leg missing. Must have been a fairly well-known incident and person to be included in the painting. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/111 "2022-02-11T16:09:20Z")
From [here](https://centerofthewest.org/2014/08/06/cody-rough-riders-spanish-american-war/): > The master publicist John Burke had traveled to Cuba in 1897 and, despite the watchful eye of Spanish agents, had managed to recruit 14 Cuban rebels for Cody’s Wild West. The men had all been wounded in battle, **one having lost a leg** and another an arm. They were commanded by Lt. Col. Ernesto Delgado who had himself twice been wounded. “Colonel Cody has performed a distinct national service in bringing these Cuban heroes to the United States,” noted the World. “They give us an opportunity to see the kind of men who make up the insurgent army.” The people of New York were clearly impressed with what they saw. So, he is probably in the poster because he is memorable but not particularly famous ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/112 "2022-02-11T16:14:16Z")
I’m wondering about his mount-dismount technique. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/113 "2022-02-11T21:36:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > People still die of cholera today. More proof that water is dangerous! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/114 "2022-02-12T01:00:37Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > In the 3d image, is the guy on the white horse missing his leg below the knee? If so, any context, or just artistic choice? The caption is 'A Squad of Genuine Cuban Insurgents - Battle Scarred Heroes from the Field of Action." At a guess, the people in that painting are depictions of the actual performers working the show, including one guy who lost his leg, presumably while fighting in Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/115 "2022-02-12T02:33:53Z")
Not sure of the overall accuracy but Open Range had what I thought to be the most accurate gunfire sounds in a movie. > **[Open Range (2003) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316356/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_26)** > > Open Range: Directed by Kevin Costner. With Robert Duvall, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Michael Gambon. A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/116 "2022-02-12T02:41:36Z")
_Heartland_ is a highly accurate account of life of a pioneer in the West. Conchata Ferrell (Berta in _Two and a Half Men_) plays a woman who travels to the Wyoming to be a housekeeper for a farmer (Rip Torn). The movie is an unflinching look at life on the frontier. Ferrell amazingly good. > **[Heartland (1979) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082508/)** > > Heartland: Directed by Richard Pearce. With Rip Torn, Conchata Ferrell, Barry Primus, Megan Folsom. A widow with a young daughter travels to a ranch in Wyoming to manage the household of a rancher. After a while the man and woman develop a... ---
**Author:** ![ch51](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ch51/32/3111_2.png) [@ch51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ch51)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/117 "2022-02-12T16:02:08Z")
Bad Company (1972) with Jeff Bridges. A while since I saw it so don’t remember if the “little” details were right or not but the big picture seemed very accurate. Failure, lack of skills, sense of doom … ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/118 "2022-02-12T17:10:19Z")
…and derby’s! ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867/119 "2022-02-12T19:12:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _Heartland_ is a highly accurate account of life of a pioneer in the West. Heartland, Days of Heaven and I will add Four Faces West - Based on Eugene Manlove Rhodes Paso por Aqui. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-the-most-accurate-western-tv-movie/958867.md?page=5)